When Binns Dies
by rain.at.midnight
Summary: After getting asked out once again, Lily responds in an extremely clever way that results in unexpected consequences.


I was trying not to fall asleep as I listened to the professor drone on and on about the Dwarf War of 1327. I mean, this teacher had to have been at least two hundred years old and he was still alive! I thought that the entire population of Hogwarts would really appreciate it if he just kicked the bucket—or at least retired from teaching—when I felt someone poke me from behind. My head whipped around and to my dismay I saw Potter smirking at me.

"Go out with me, Evans," he said casually.

I glared at him before replying, "When Binns dies."

"But, Lily," he whined, "you and I both know that that will never happen!"

"And your point is…?" It was my turn to smirk now. I turned back toward the front of the classroom and heard Potter's best mate, Sirius Black say, "You've got to admit, she's original."

I chuckled softly before beginning my notes again.

I woke with a start as a little paper ball hit me in the head. My head shot up and I turned to see where it had come from. Seeing no one, I quickly picked it up and opened it. It read,

_Lily,_

_Wake up! Binns just told us that we were going to be tested on this war on the NEWTs! I just thought you should know so that you could take all the notes possible for you to pass this section. _

_-James_

_P.S. Why won't you go out with me, Evans?_

I sighed. The boy just didn't get it, did he? I flipped the paper over and wrote,

_I won't go out with you_ _because you are a conceited, proud, smug, arrogant prick!_

And with that, I looked around to see if Binns was watching before gently tossing the paper behind me. Within one minute, the paper hit me again. I gently lifted it up and read,

_Just in case you haven't noticed, those adjectives all have the same meaning. And would you like to elaborate on why exactly I am conceited and arrogant?_

I let out an annoyed breath and then scribbled furiously,

_You believe the whole world revolves around you and you think that just because you're some big Quidditch star, the world should just bow down to you! You don't take anything seriously and have never actually asked a girl out because you genuinely liked her! I think that about sums it up._

I threw this back at him and watched as his face fell. He slowly wrote back and halfheartedly tossed the paper back to me.

_Lily,_

_Do you really think that of me? That I think I'm better than everyone else? Because to tell you the truth, I am of the complete opposite opinion. Most people are much better than I am. And I have asked a girl out that I really liked. She's just never agreed. You know, if you actually gave me a chance, you would see that I am not the person you've made me out to be. You just refuse to accept that there is a chance that I may actually truly care for you. And from now on, I'll just acknowledge the fact that you will never accept that. Now, please don't reply._

I turned to look at him and saw that he was looking down at his paper. He didn't seem to see me looking, so I watched him for a moment. Sirius looked at him questioningly and nudged him, but I saw him just shake his head and write down some random fact that Binns had said.

The next day, I walked into History of Magic. I sat down at my table and put my head in my hands. I had really messed everything up. There was no way James was ever going to look at me again. I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before because I was too preoccupied thinking about the notes from the day before. Suddenly, I heard footsteps and I quickly turned around to see James and Remus walk through the door. James glanced in my direction before turning back to Remus.

Once the entire class had arrived, I chanced another look at James. To my great surprise, I found him watching me. Just then, I heard a collective gasp throughout the room. I turned to see a familiar looking ghost float through the wall. When the ghost turned to face us, I believe I was the most shocked of all. I guess James and I really were supposed to get together. It was the ghost of Professor Binns.

I turned toward James and said, "Well, James, I believe that we have a date."


End file.
